Bruised
by rumoredreader
Summary: This is based around the Jack's Mannequin song 'Bruised'. It takes place in the later years of college for Derek and Casey. Dasey, Oneshot.


_**I've got my things, I'm good to go  
You met me at the terminal  
Just one more plane ride and it's done**_

**April 10****th****, 2013**

Any onlooker would swear they were strangers.

Casey McDonald walked cautiously past the familiar messy hair and worn leather jacket. She turned her head away before allowing a glance in his direction. She had a purpose, and it didn't include him.

Derek Venturi sensed her, even before she passed him. He knew her hair would be tightly pulled into a ponytail, that she would ignore him. He didn't expect anything better from her, wasn't owed it.

"I'm sorry miss, but this is a full flight. I can't do anything about your seating arrangements." A tired old woman didn't look up from the computer to answer Casey.

"Please…" Her voice lowered to a pleading whisper. Derek could imagine the strength of the look she was laying onto the flight attendant.

The woman was not fazed as she shook her head. "I would love to help you, but I already said no."

Derek gave Casey the courtesy of looking away when she turned back.

She looked at him for the first time; he was looking out the window, pretending he hadn't heard the humiliating conversation. Casey only gave herself a moment to take in the deep bags under his hallow eyes. To notice the glazed look he had as he watched a plane touch down on the runway.

Even when she turned away, the look on his face haunted her. She had a feeling it would haunt her for a long time.

Of course Derek saw her watching him. He always saw her; it was impossible not to see someone like Casey. Even when she was trying not to be obvious… she never did get a handle on stealthy. Something about her stuck out like a sore thumb.

He smirked to himself thinking of how he had tried to ignore her all those years ago. Wondered how he had ever managed, and then how the hell he was going to do it again.

_**We stood like statues at the gate  
Vacation's come and gone too late  
There's so much sun where I'm from  
I had to give it away, had to give you away**_

"We are not boarding rows 20 through 40, flight 205." A dull voice announced over the gate intercom. It was met with a small round of applause and sighs of relief.

The only unhappy passengers were Casey and Derek. They had taken silent relief in the downpour and delay of the claustrophobic plane ride. Now at the notion of their row boarding, their unspoken truce to avoid each other was broken. She allowed him go to first, knowing he had the window seat.

She looked at the floor as he walked past her into the ramp. Her legs were screaming relief at the idea of sitting. Neither of them had been able to relax enough to sit during the two hour delay, or even move from their claimed spots. Instead they were too intent to ignore one another and everyone else around them.

With one last look at the damp runway Casey sighed and made her way into the raw air of the boarding tunnel. Ahead of her Derek was pressed with memory that flooded his mind at the smell of the musky passageway. It was one she joined him in as the smell met her nose.

_**April 2**__**st**__** 2012**_

"_Der-ek! What are you doing?! We can't be in here!" Casey said taken aback as he pushed her into the old wooden shed and closed the door behind him. _

_Sure the musky shack, with rotting dark walls and no breathing room were not ideal, but it was the only private place he could think of on this side of the campus. _

"_Ugh, Derek I don't have time for this. I'm supposed to meet Trent at my dorm for one o'clock. That's only four minutes from now, and it's a five minute walk." She put her watch in front of Derek's face to prove her point._

_He grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes, causing her to pull back slightly. "Casey, can you just shut up for once?"_

"_Uh- yeah." They had become closer, friends even since going to the same college away from their blended family, but something about the way Derek was looking at Casey was different. It wasn't the condescending jerk she knew all those years ago, or her good friend staring her down. She didn't know who exactly it was standing in front of her. All she understood was that whoever it was had her stomach turning in a way it never had before._

_Derek was about to loose his nerve, he could feel it. She was looking at him like he was crazy, and maybe he was. Dropping her arms he opened his mouth. "Listen, I know you're going to say this is none of my business, and that we have that whole not meddling with each other's dating lives rule. But you've never paid any attention to that rule when it comes to me, and it's about time I repaid the favor. I mean I gave you plenty of time to work it out on your own, hinted, paid other people to hint… but apparently you need me to spell it out for you."_

_Derek was pacing the four foot room span in front of Casey, and ranting. Never a good sign. _

"_Derek, what are you talking about?"_

_He stopped and threw his arms up in the air. "Trent! The guy is a lying, arrogant weasel and I just don't get how you can't see that." _

_He lowered his voice and finally spit out what he really had to say. "He's cheating on you Case."_

_Casey looked at Derek cynically at first before she burst out laughing. _

_Derek immediately got angry. "I'm not joking. I saw him myself last night at Ralph's party with Cynthia. You know that little blonde chick I dated last semester, you hated her. Anyways, they were going at it on Ralph's couch."_

_Casey laughed a bit more, and rolled her eyes. Now Derek was thinking he was wrong, that she was the crazy one._

"_He wasn't cheating on me." She said laughter still laced into her voice. "I broke up with him yesterday. I'm only meeting him today to give him back his stuff."_

_Derek suddenly felt pretty embarrassed. "Oh, well in that case… tell him I said my bad about his eye."_

_Casey's face became serious. "What did you do?"_

"_Nothing he didn't deserve." Derek was the one laughing now as he remembered how hard Trent had gone down after only one punch. It was so true that the bigger they are the harder they fall._

_Casey shook her head, but kept her comments to herself. Besides, he was right, Trent did turn out to be a jerk._

"_Alright, well I guess that's all then." Derek said reaching for the door._

_Casey's hand reached out closing it as it opened. "Don't you want to know why I broke up with him?"_

_Of course he did, but Derek didn't know it was his place to ask… or deal with any drama that may come along with it. So he played it off. "Don't you have to be somewhere?"_

"_He can hold his horses for five minutes, this is more important." She said straightening her posture as she often did before a presentation or speech she was nervous about. Derek curiously raised his eyebrows._

"_You see the thing is… I think you should know…" Casey paused to take a deep breath and wonder where all the air in the small space had gone._

_Derek took a similar breath as a light bulb went off in his head. "Casey… shut up."_

_He kissed her harder than he had always imagined he would. In his mind the kiss was slower and more romantic than he would ever admit to wanting it to be. But when his lips met hers there was no time for slow, after all she had somewhere to be so she could hurry up and get back here._

_**And we spent four days on an  
Island at your family's old hotel  
Sometimes perfection can be  
It can be perfect hell, perfect...**_

Derek possessively placed his arm on the shared rest the second he sat, claiming it like a child. They were only inches apart in their connecting seat, but worlds apart. Casey had her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed, but she wasn't fooling anyone into thinking she was asleep.

While she prayed for sleep to come she played back over how they had gotten to this point. When this whole thing started just one short week ago, she never would have believed this would be the outcome.

**April 1****st**** 2013**

"_Aunt who?" Derek had absent mindedly asked barely looking up from the magazine sprawled next to him on his couch. His roommate graciously got up and left the apartment with a nod to the couple as he commonly did when Casey would barge in without knocking. _

"_My Auntie Lindy, my grandfather's sister. She and uncle Hank just bought an old inn out on Prince Edward Island and they invited us to come spend spring break there. So what do you say?" Casey couldn't contain the smile on her face as she awaited his answer._

"_Pass, Ralph already asked me to Florida." Derek answered quickly, looking up to see Casey's face fall._

"_De-rek, you're unbelievable!" She turned to storm out, but only made it to the door before his hands grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. He was laughing._

"_God Case, you're too easy. I'm just kidding. Do you really think I'd rather spend time visiting with Ralph's grandmother in her retirement community?" _

_She playfully smacked his chest and smiled at him. "Not funny."_

_Several days later they had arrived at the hotel and were both pretty fairly impressed._

_The small town was picturesque with its ocean cliffs and foggy fields. Burrowfield Inn was right in place with expansive white porches, and budding flower boxes. It was laid at the top of a field overlooking a lighthouse. _

_Casey hadn't stopped beaming with excitement since the plane touched down in the small airport. Derek thought it beautiful but was looking forward more to the alone time and the small box he had secretly slipped into his bag after Casey had packed it for him._

_Four days passed in perfection, leading up to the night Derek knew was the night. He had been at his stealthiest, parting ways in the bustling fishing village with the excuse that he had forgotten something at the inn. The plan was set, she was to shop for another hour and they would meet at the bar of a local restaurant she had been anxious to visit. With a chaste kiss and a smile he left her, rushing to set things in motion._

_He was running late when he rushed into the dimly lit bar with a fresh bouquet of her favorite flowers in his hand, they had been harder to find than he had anticipated. Casey wasn't sitting at the bar like he expected. He ran a hand through his hair and checked his phone to see no messages. Looking around the crowded bar he finally caught sight of her near the back. She was giggling and talking to someone he still couldn't see. He smiled in relief to see she wasn't upset. His smile faded though as he walked to the pair and saw who it was she had been talking to, wondering what he was doing there._

_Before Derek could move another step Max leaned down and placed his lips on Casey's. A group stood from a nearby table instantly blocking his view, but Derek had seen enough. He threw the flowers to the ground and ran._

_At the same moment Max was reaching a hand to the cheek Casey had just slapped. "How dare you?! I told you I was with someone!"_

_Casey didn't wait for his answer though, because from the corner of her eye she had seen Derek rushing for the door. She knew he had seen, and had to explain. But by the time she had reached the door, he was no where in sight._

_**Hours pass, and she still counts the minutes  
That I am not there, I swear I didn't mean  
For it to feel like this  
Like every inch of me is bruised, bruised**_

_After hours of searching and calling, Derek was no where to be found. Concerned and frightened Casey sat out on the porch all night, fighting off sleep and tears and ignoring her aunt's pleas to come inside._

_As the sun began to rise, she saw him making his way through the foggy field. His steps were slow and unsteady, and she knew he had been drinking. Casey's concern turned to rage as he climbed the stairs. "Where the hell have you been?!"_

_Derek grabbed the white railing to steady himself and glare at Casey. He knew she was worried, but his anger and the alcohol didn't care, he just knew he wanted her to hurt like she had hurt him. So instead of telling her he had been drinking a bottle of whiskey out in the field all night he lied. "With someone else."_

_And to Casey, that was all she had to hear before she packed both of their bags and called the airport cutting their fairytale vacation short. She never saw the red velvet box that was still inside Derek's pant pocket._

_**And don't fly fast. Oh, pilot can you help me?  
Can you make this last? This plane is all I got  
So keep it steady, now  
Cause every inch you see is bruised**_

Sitting sober next to Casey Derek felt regret. It was a sickening aching feeling, but he knew there was nothing he could do now. Because even though every inch of his skin burned for hers, he couldn't push the image of Max's lips on hers away. So Derek did the only thing he could, he pleaded to make the moment last, to immortalize her smell and her image, knowing it may be the last time he got the chance.

_**I lace my Chucks, I walk the aisle  
I take my pills, the babies cry  
All I hear is what's playing through  
The in-flight radio**_

Halfway home Derek couldn't take the agony of the sounds of the plane meddling with her slow breaths. Reaching into his bag he grabbed his Nyquil and iPod, hoping to drown it out and sleep it off. He soon cursed himself for not charging his iPod, and plugged his headphones instead into the jack to listen to the plane's radio.

_  
__**Now every word of every song  
I ever heard that made me wanna stay  
Is what's playing through  
The in-flight radio, and I  
And I am, finally waking up**_

The distraction he had hoped for turned into a disaster as each song sang of love. Love lost, love found, love giving purpose to life. Each lyric mocked him in his current situation and he was all too grateful when sleep overtook him. When he woke up the plane was landed and she had already left. Derek had never felt as hollow and bruised as he did walking off that plane alone.

_**So read your books, but stay out late  
Some nights, some nights, and don't think  
That you can't stop by the bar  
You haven't shown your face here since the bad news  
Well I'm here till close, with fingers crossed  
Each night cause your place isn't far**_

One week later and Derek had realized quite a few things. The first was that he didn't care about the kiss. Sure it hurt, but it didn't matter, not in the long run. And the second was that after swallowing his pride, he knew he was wrong in the way he had reacted. The third was what was killing him. He couldn't live without her. In a letter pushed under Casey's door late one night he told her all of this, and hoped she'd believe him. He sat each night at a bar off campus they spent so many hours together at waiting until close for her.

It had been nearly two weeks since Casey had received the letter, and she was preparing for finals. The only thing that kept her going and away from that dark place she fell into the first week back was schoolwork and graduation. She pushed aside all thoughts of Derek, and when the white envelope addressed to her in his handwriting appeared she had been too scared to open it. So she had blindly pulled a book off a nearby bookshelf and stuffed the letter inside, placing it back before she could register the title of the book.

In the stress and anxiety of researching her final term paper she had forgotten about the misplaced letter. So it was much to her surprise when she reached for her collection of Neruda poetry and a piece of crisp white fell to the ground.

Casey barely had finished reading the final word when she was bolting for the door. She ran the way to his apartment, banging on the door as she reached it. When there was no answer she was grateful Derek had been too lazy to move his extra key from under the fire extinguisher and let herself in, calling out his name.

She barged in through his bedroom door much as she had when they were younger, flipping on the lights only to find it empty. Sighing she went to turn and leave when she noticed something sitting on the desk. Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked to the bare desk with nothing but a small red velvet box atop it.

Casey knew it wasn't right to snoop, but as always when it came to Derek she couldn't help herself.

_  
__**And hours pass, and hours pass, yeah, yeah... **_

As he did with each night that passed before, Derek said this was it; this would be the last night. He looked up from his notes laid across the bar table to the door and sighed, who was he kidding?

He dropped his sight back down to the book below and did his best to try and retain the information. Just like everything else in his life, studying without Casey was impossible. Groaning in frustration Derek pushed the book aside and hit his head on the table. When he closed his eyes, he let his mind wander back to that fateful night on the island, picturing a different ending. He imagined how the night would have ended after she said yes, how his ring would have looked on her finger. The lights flicked in last call, and he knew tonight wasn't the night.

Sighing Derek opened his eyes, and sat up. He gathered his stuff and headed slowly to the door, still hoping. And as he waved to the owner behind the bar and reached for the door it swung inward knocking him directly in the head.

"Damn it!" Derek cursed pulling both hands to cover his forehead and bend over.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I didn't…" Casey's voice trailed off as Derek dropped his hands and she saw his face. They both stood staring at one another.

Derek opened his mouth to say something, but just awkwardly stared.

"I read your letter." Casey said slowly, cautiously and he nodded her on.

Then the words started pouring out from her mouth. "I ran into Max when I got there, and I was telling him about you and then out of nowhere he kissed me, I never kissed him back. And you were gone before I could even talk to you. When I saw you the next day I think I knew you were lying before I read the letter, but I was too mad, too proud, too-"

He didn't allow her to finish as he pulled her to him and kissed her. They both knew there were no more words or apologies needed, the only thing that mattered now was making up for lost time.

Casey lost herself completely in the kiss, wrapping her hands into the wild hair she had missed. A moment passed and Derek felt his hair pulling by her fingers. "Ahh Case, since when do you like it rough?" He breathed into her ear.

"No, no, no!" She answered pulling harder with no luck.

"Oww, what's stuck?" Derek asked placing his hand on hers to stop the yanking.

Casey had turned bright red by then, and tried to swat away his hand. "Nothing." But it was too late, Derek's hand had enclosed onto the ring that was tangled in his hair. His eyes shot immediately to hers.

"Casey, what is that?"

She knew she was stuck in more ways than one so she confessed. "Well, I went to your apartment first and of course you weren't there… but there was this box on your desk… and I just wanted to try it on… and it got stuck. I'm so sorry, as soon as it's off I'll give it back."

Derek was smirking at her as her voice verged more and more on nervous laughter. "Calm down, its okay… and you know, you don't have to give it back."

Her mouth dropped before it turned upright into a smile. "I don't?"

"Naw, I mean I would have done this differently but…" Derek got down on one knee, pulling her still attached hand down with him. Casey couldn't help but start crying.

"You know I'm not good with these things, so just bear with me. I love you, I always have and I always will. So I was wondering, since you already have the ring and all... "He winked and she laughed through her flowing tears. This was the part he knew he had to get right. "Casey McDonald, will you marry me?"

With a quick rip of Derek's hair she dislodged her hand from his head and threw her arms around him, knocking him over to the floor. He barely felt it though, all that mattered was the word she kept yelling over and over. "YES!"

**The End**


End file.
